Adil Najam
Today, April 4, marks the death anniversary of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
There is probably no other political figure since Mohammad Ali Jinnah who has left as deep and lasting a shaddow on Pakistan politics as Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (ZAB). You can love him or hate him, but you cannot possibly ignore him.
Those who love him, love him with a passion that few – if any – other Pakistani leaders evoke. Those who hate him – and many seem to do – do so with equal ferocity. No one I know is indifferent to him.
I use the words “love” and “hate” because the intensity of people’s views on him cannot really be captured by dispassionate terms such as “like” and “dislike” alone. Whatever else we might think of him, no one can deny his intensity, or the intensity with which Pakistanis of all generations – including those who have never even seen him – talk about him.
So today, on his death anniversary, let me not talk about my views on him. Let him talk to us himself. In his own words and in his own unique and passionate style.
Lutful Islam, I think you are too kind to Bhutto. I think he knew exactly what he was doing and did not care at all.
Also, the Saudi pressure also played.
But what he did with this action is to give the Mullahs their greatest victory and the sense that now they could do anything they wanted. That i what ultimately led to the mess we are in now.
Dear Farrukh,
thanks for your comment. Bhutto always thought that he was solving a problem. He obviously did not care for what happened afterwards. The events of 1974, OIC conference, the 2nd amendment, and of the adjacent years stamped Bhutto’s authority on Pakistani politics. He had too many battles to win and I doubt if he understood the true ramifications of his own actions.
Dear Lutful Islam, this is a very interesting comment – article really. I did’nt know more of these details although I have always thought that this decision was Bhutto’s and Pakistan’s lowest moment. What surprised me most is role of Kausar Niazi. He is not really my favorite individual. I wonder if he actually tried hard enough.
What is difficult to figure out is that if teh Ahmadi community was so helpful to Bhutto in his elections, why would he abandon them so quickly. Did he think this was a decision he could later reverse?
Every now and then I see comments made about Ahmadis in this blog. Many are made by ahmadis like myself, but many come from other contributors; some of these remarks may give hints to the reason this whole problem started. The late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto is thought to have started the whole process. I think almost everyone apart from die hard jayalas agree that ZAB was a great leader, but a flawed one. His 1974 amendment was an example of his political cunning which went horribly wrong. Ahmadis were declared non-muslims
@meengla
30th death anniversary of ZAB
It is sad what happened to ZAB, but then again ZAB or Pakistanis are NOT relatives of Allah.